LT1 GenV swap

[87chevy.com]

Passenger side header finished







Accessories reinstalled, new waterpump gaskets and painted the p/s pump





Few more things to wrap up before a test drive. Waiting on some stainkes braided brake lines from Tobin over at Kore3, reinstall the efan, find a crimper or make a die to crimp the fan terminals and a few other little things.

[87chevy.com]

radiator fan reassembled after paint - ready to be reinstalled



Stock trans lines shortened with compression to an fittings added since the summit racing 37 degree tool just couldnt seem to get a good looking flare on the steel line.. didnt want to buy another 120$ tool..

One tip, when test fitting lines with rubber and clamps, cut a spare section and slit it so the hose goes on with no resistance and then hose clamp it.. make it so much easier to r/i.



Another tip is if you have a 45 degree fairing tool kit, the first step in the 45 degree process makes a nice bubble flare.. the size can be tweaked by how much its tightened down



Finally finished with the transmission lines for the second time!



I used a few nut-certs to install it to the core support

About time for final reassembly of the sheet metal, fluids, brake lines and fan wiring. The delphi 59 double crimper puts a nice crimp on the 8ga wire, but I imagine it's not enough force for a proper crimp (which will cause resistance, which causes heat, which causes fires) so I will solder the crimp too.. cant seem to find a affordable crimper.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Anyone interested in a L83 swap harness, 525$shipped with exchange harness only have one, been trying to sell it local no one with cashola...



Thanks,
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Wrapped up some little odd and ends, transmission line bracket, and harness bracket by the ac compressor and re did the electrical panel..





Clint

[87chevy.com]

Made some progress and went backwards a bit. After putting all the other engine bay stuff in, the passenger front ran out of room, pretty dang cluttered and with my choice in artery, it's in the way of the stock coolant reservoir..



I had to raise the battery tray up 1 inch because of the bigge battery and my projector headlights


So, separated the battery tray again and folded it the other way.



I should have done this mod for the LS swap... oh well.. trying to find a clean battery distribution setup.. it doesn't look like the first picture.. I've got a part on the way to solve 2 cables.. relocated another and I'm down to 2 at the battery but still got the fan wire to add...

Machined down the frame brake line fitting adapters. There not designed for frame rail thickness. Mine are now



Used my homemade mini "lathe" powered by my drill press, bolt and an o-ring.. sounds sketchy, but it wasn't and it worked great. Just need to spray paint the groove since its steel and it will rust otherwise.

I could have made a sheetmetal bracket and welded it to the frame but this was my first choice and worked and was less work

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Low side a/c line assembled and needs to be crimped. The ac crimper I have doesn't have #12 reduced barrier dies so I need to get a shop to take care of that and then the a/c is done!
I reused the low side hose from the 2015, way more flexible than standard barrier hose.



Got side tracked on another idea, and looks slick!





More than likely going to paint the emblem black to match the one on the cab trim. Was looking for a smooth flat center cap for a subtle mod to accent the brake upgrade.
Clint

Tried to scrape off the orange sticker but it was a paint of some sort.. little acetone took the orange right off.. wonder if OE are the same?

[87chevy.com]

Got a deal on flowmasters through work so decided on trying out the Supper 44, dual 2.5 inlet single 3 outlet



Planning on installing NNBS tire carrier so wanted the exhaust to tuck close to the frame, got plenty of room except by the brake line bracket.. may just relocate that one if it comes down to it.

Added a v-band to the muffler to tailpipesection, and waiting on another u bend to get here so I can aim the exhaust out the side. Overall pleased how it sounds right now.

Clint

[HSRACER]

Started to follow. Sorry I am so late!

[Advanced Design]

Nice work and you’ve shared some good tips in there too. I really like the one about the split hose for checking line fitment. Good idea. Curious about the mini lathe too. What did you use for the cutting tool?

[87chevy.com]

Just a dremel tool with a metal cutting bit was used to make the groove wider.
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Made more progress, we ended a 5/8 bung to the aluminum intake tube, measure and plotted the bracket for the power distribution box, chopper it out and finished welding the battery tray.







Need to make the power cables and the time to put the hood back on!!

Ran a few wires, need to order literally 2 terminals I forgot on the last order

]

Not done with the power wires but close. Will finish em off with some zip tie separators once the other terminals get here.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Finished with the power cables, fuses, terminals and nuts came in all at the same time



Sorted out the junction block location.. last minute placement was the best!



Need some red heat shrink to finish off the battery cables but the end is near for the swap portion of the build. Game plan is to enjoy it for a few hundred miles and then get it painted finally. Been wanting to paint it for years..

[87chevy.com]

Installed the new dorman hood release cable.. old, possibly original didnt like being reshaped...

Product rating pooo... firewall seal grommet is not the right size, no way to make it seal.. wound up just cutting a slit in the 30 yr old original and wrapping it over the cable...cable is smaller than stock .. majority is sealed up anyway.



Almost cant tell what was done but with the battery on the driver side, the hood release cable just didnt look right at home anymore...
Needed something and I happened to have some nylon fuel line stuffed away.
Threaded it to 3/8, cut the bolt head off to make a stud, installed the stud, cables, nut and then this nylon holder. Simple thing to hold the hood release cable and clean it up instead of it just dangling.
Clint

Mocked up the dodge gauge to the sender in the upper rad hose adapter.. it didnt read what the ecu was displaying... could be the aftermarket sender, or the 12yr old gauge.. gonna vacuum bleed it again this week and retest.. sure wish summit would send the gm coolant reservoir already.. dang mfg drop ship..

[87chevy.com]

Touchdown.. finally



PCV lines mockup finished, and damn I'm pleased with the fit and finish. Gonna wrap it with braided loom to give it a finished look.







Tidy up the last bit of wire looming, then slide the hood on. Ordered carpet from a site ove never ordered carpet from.. LUND is wack... called them to ask a simple question and they were like? We dont sell anything that old.. speedway had the best price on the carpet so I called them and they called their tech support, same as I did.. which means no sale to that brand I'm almost positive I bought that brand of carpet years ago and worked out just fine and still looks awesome.. oh well. Anyone needs a 2wd low hump black carpet, I got one collecting dust.

Another thing I noticed was the exhaust sounds different with the PVC connected to the intake, before once up to temp, the muffler would have this unpleasant tin-ie sound... it doesn't have it anymore after the PCV was connected. Not sure why or how it influenced it but glad it doesn't have that tin-ie sound resonating in the muffler

Clint

[87chevy.com]

And finally...



Put about 2 miles on her.. still got a wierd tuning issue as long tem fuel trim goes to -18 ish on both banks at idle, which makes idle sometimes unhappy... but short term is within 5% when it pulls that 18% of fuel. gen5 tuning is way different than my gen3 bmw..

Besides that runs fabulously! .. definatly gonna go through tires and gonna make me buy cal tracks as it's got some nasty wheel hop as it did before and with the 6l80 only makes it more obvious sponsor?? Anyone??

No freeway till I get the alignment and hood on but the exhaust sounds so far is. The brake upgrade feels rock soild..

Clint

[Clyde65]

Nicely done!

[87chevy.com]

Changed the exhaust already.. the dual 2.5" in single 3" out super 44 to a 3" dynomax bullet as a resonator (had anyway) over axle side dumped was a good sound but a bit too loud at wot for me. If it had cats, may be different story... had a summit racing 3" in/out 2 chamber laying around and replaced the after super 44 piping with it and money! Idle is quiet, regular driving sounds like a normal sounding flowmaster, hollow slightly deep, initial thoughts, sounds like a dragon breathing especially between shifts (trans is tuned, engine stock). Wot sounds very niice...
No drone on the freeway speeds too.. very pleased. I plan on bringing it to the shop next weekend to pull the tank for a quick mod and I'll take a few shots of the exhaust.

[87chevy.com]

Charged the a/c with 2.5lbs and I think im gonna start selling snow cones out of this thing



Pressures are inside the shop but man, couldnt get any better.

Stock l83 compressor, havnt gotten the a/c bus module squares away so it's just gonna be manually activated for the time being.

Clint

[Custom 68]

so you used the stock compressor, did you use the original ac box and all? I looked back and didn't see but what did you use for fittings on the AC compressor? I will need a block or something.
Thanks
Dave

[87chevy.com]

Stock stuff needs to be modified. I drew up some adapters, had em 3d printed and was spot on.. goal was to have a shop make a run of em but not enough interest to invest in.

Low side tube was completely removed and reworked from compressor pad with some scrap bends.
High side was tweaked and twisted and then a tube bit brazed on after the stock sensor.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Notch in frame was for LS ac line clearance.. it got welded up.
All the tube was scraps in the pictures from old evaporator cores that were machine bent for tight radius.. there is a cool tool to bend ac tube bit not about to invest a grand to bend my ac lines like factory.



Shows stock discharge line that requires the "twist" so the sensor isn't so close to the frame



Shows the 90* scrap bend and tube nut brazed together and taped up.

Clint

[Custom 68]

Thank you Clint. I was afraid you had to make something. I'll keep investigating. I was wondering if an aftermarket compressor will fit in place of the factory one?
Thanks
Dave

[stevenbear72]

That pcv setup look pretty badass man! Definitely like the way you routed the wiring to battery and battery location bud. I have an L83 swapped 68 GMC.

[87chevy.com]

Been driving the truck around, probably put over a hundred fun miles on it. Still tweaking the mass airflow table. Other than that added a power steering cooler. Fluid was pretty hot and already discolored. Also vented the p/s cap aswell so it wouldn't build and pressure.







All buttoned up

[87chevy.com]

Tried out e85 in the l83 swap.. man, definatly got some more pep to its step! Definatly worth the extra maybe 100$ to plumb it in. Squeaks the tires up to about 40mph on concrete on full throttle. Still want to get a performance tune, still rocking stock ecu flash.
Clint